Pulley/Starter difficulties - how to fix it?

[lawnmowernewbie]

Hi there everyone,
I have a Victa Vortex mower.

It started with a no spark issue at first, I replaced the plug and still had no spark so I assumed it must be something like the coil/igniter in a car?

Any way, my main problem now is, that when I started taking things off the mower looking for the ignition system, I took the pulley/starter assembly off and had a bit of a play with the pulley/winding mechanism and before I knew it I had somehow made it so that when I pulled the cord out, it would no longer want to wind back in. It seemed the more I tried to wind it back up, pull the cord out etc, the less it wanted to wind back up.

Now I have about 2/3rds of the cord out, and I have no idea how to get it so that it will wind it back in. I have included some photos of the mechanism, I noticed like a small metal pin type thing, that when I pulled it away from the center of the device, it would spin on its own, so I assume that that is some kind of lock for it, and that letting it spin on its own like that probably didn't help my problems at all.
Anyway, I guess my question is: is there any way to rewind this mechanism so that it is able to pull all of the cord back into itself? and is does it have something to do with the little pin thingy?

If anyone is able to shed any light on this situation what so ever, I would GREATLY appreciate it.

Thanks very much.
Regards, Lee.

 

[benski]

Hi there everyone,
I have a Victa Vortex mower.

It started with a no spark issue at first, I replaced the plug and still had no spark so I assumed it must be something like the coil/igniter in a car?

Any way, my main problem now is, that when I started taking things off the mower looking for the ignition system, I took the pulley/starter assembly off and had a bit of a play with the pulley/winding mechanism and before I knew it I had somehow made it so that when I pulled the cord out, it would no longer want to wind back in. It seemed the more I tried to wind it back up, pull the cord out etc, the less it wanted to wind back up.

Now I have about 2/3rds of the cord out, and I have no idea how to get it so that it will wind it back in. I have included some photos of the mechanism, I noticed like a small metal pin type thing, that when I pulled it away from the center of the device, it would spin on its own, so I assume that that is some kind of lock for it, and that letting it spin on its own like that probably didn't help my problems at all.
Anyway, I guess my question is: is there any way to rewind this mechanism so that it is able to pull all of the cord back into itself? and is does it have something to do with the little pin thingy?

If anyone is able to shed any light on this situation what so ever, I would GREATLY appreciate it.

Thanks very much.
Regards, Lee.

Not to be too defeatist here, but explaining how to put it all back together might be a bit daunting. Is there a dealer that sold you that machine nearby? They usually charge a rather small fee for that service, and they might even know very quickly what is ailing your machine's first problem.

 

[KennyV]

WELCOME to LMF....

I'm not that familiar with your brand mower... But I did find several Youtube clips on your problem.
Give it a look to see if this is your engine, there are more listed to the right and down on this link...
How to rewind a victa powertorque starter - YouTube
Most rewind systems are very similar, so you should spot what you have quickly... Post back if you get it , Good Luck, :smile:KennyV

 

[lawnmowernewbie]

wow didn't think of youtube, it seems to have a lot of videos on the subject, thanks very much.